2026 Maha Shivaratri · Mumbai

Maha Shivaratri, "the great night of Shiva", is kept on Krishna Chaturdashi, the fourteenth night of the waning moon in Magha (Amanta) or Phalguna (Purnimanta). In 2026 it fell on Sunday, 15 February. Devotees fast, stay awake through the night and bathe the Shiva linga across four prahars.

When is Maha Shivaratri in 2026, 2027 and 2028?

The festival is held on the night when Chaturdashi tithi prevails at Nishita Kaal, the Hindu midnight. That is why the date sometimes looks like it is "a day early" compared with the tithi shown in a printed calendar.

Dates are calculated for Mumbai (IST). The four prahar puja times and the Nishita window depend on your city's sunset and sunrise, so check the calculator above.

Every month has a Masik Shivaratri on its Krishna Chaturdashi, but the one in Magha or Phalguna, at the end of winter, is the most important of the year.

Significance and story

The wedding of Shiva and Parvati

Many families celebrate Maha Shivaratri as the anniversary of Shiva's marriage to Parvati. After long years of penance, Parvati won the heart of the ascetic god, and their union is seen as the joining of consciousness and energy, Shiva and Shakti. Temples often hold wedding processions for the deities on this night.

The endless pillar of light

Another story, the Lingodbhava, says Brahma and Vishnu once argued over who was greater. A blazing pillar of fire appeared between them with no visible beginning or end. Brahma flew upward as a swan and Vishnu dug downward as a boar, but neither found its limit. Shiva then emerged from the pillar, showing he was beyond both. The linga worshipped in temples recalls that column of light, and Shivaratri is said to be the night it appeared.

The hunter and the bilva tree

A gentle folk tale tells of a hunter who climbed a bilva (bael) tree to escape a wild animal one night. To stay awake, he kept plucking leaves and dropping them below, not knowing a Shiva linga lay under the tree, and dew from the leaves fell on it too. Without meaning to, he had fasted, kept vigil and worshipped Shiva all night, and he was blessed with liberation. The story is a reminder that sincerity matters more than ritual perfection.

A night of inner stillness

Shiva is the great yogi, and Shivaratri is seen as a powerful night for meditation. Staying awake symbolises staying alert to the divine rather than drifting through life in a kind of sleep.

How to do Maha Shivaratri puja (vidhi)

1. The day before: Eat a single light meal, avoiding grains if possible, to prepare for the fast.
2. Morning: Bathe early, wear clean clothes, and take a sankalpa to keep the fast and night vigil.
3. Visit a Shiva temple during the day if you can, or set up a small linga or picture of Shiva at home.
4. Abhishek: Bathe the linga with water or Ganga jal, then with milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar, rinsing with water between each.
5. Apply sandalwood paste and vibhuti (sacred ash), and offer bilva leaves in sets of three, along with dhatura, white flowers, fruits and a lamp. Tulsi and kumkum are traditionally not offered to Shiva.
6. Chant "Om Namah Shivaya" or the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, or read the Shiva Purana or Rudram.
7. Four prahar puja: Divide the night from sunset to sunrise into four parts and repeat the abhishek and offerings once in each. The puja at Nishita Kaal, around midnight, is considered the most powerful.
8. Stay awake through the night (jagaran) with bhajans, meditation and stories of Shiva.
9. Parana: After a final worship the next morning, break the fast after sunrise and before Chaturdashi ends, where the timing allows.

Regional variations

• Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanath temple stays open through the night, and colourful processions carry Shiva as a bridegroom through the old city.
• Ujjain: Mahakaleshwar, one of the twelve jyotirlingas, holds round-the-clock darshan and a special early-morning bhasma aarti.
• Gujarat: Somnath temple sees huge crowds, and in Junagadh the Bhavnath fair at the foot of Mount Girnar draws sadhus from across India.
• Kashmir: Kashmiri Pandits observe Herath, their biggest festival, usually a day earlier on Trayodashi, with an elaborate puja of a water-filled pot representing Shiva.
• Himachal Pradesh: Mandi holds the week-long International Shivratri Fair, when the deities of local villages are carried into town.
• South India: Devotees throng Srisailam, Srikalahasti and Chidambaram, and in Tamil Nadu many walk around the sacred Arunachala hill at Tiruvannamalai.
• Nepal and Mauritius: Pashupatinath in Kathmandu fills with sadhus and pilgrims, and Mauritian Hindus walk to the crater lake of Ganga Talao.

Frequently asked questions

Updated on 16 October 2026. Dates are calculated for Mumbai (IST); the calculator above gives timings for your city.